Greens court Labor support fighting TPVs

Updated
November 30, 2013 09:29:00

The Greens are urging Labor to back their move to challenge the recently reintroduced Temporary Protection Visas. Labor's support will be vital if Monday's disallowance motion for debate in the senate is to succeed but, as yet, the party has not indicated how it will vote.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The Greens are urging Labor to back their move to challenge the recently reintroduced Temporary Protection Visas.

Labor's support will be vital if Monday's disallowance motion for debate in the Senate is to succeed but, as yet, Labor hasn't indicated how it will vote.

Felicity Ogilvie reports.

FELICITY OGILVIE: The Government has started issuing Temporary Protection Visas to asylum seekers who are found to be refugees or in need of Australia's protection.

The visas last up to three years and allow people to work and access Medicare but there's no family reunification.

One 18-year-old asylum seeker who arrived without his family says it's like his life is on hold.

ASYLUM SEEKER: That would be very hard, like what I've heard of temporary visa. That it would last for three years, and I don't know what would happen after three years. They might send me back, but the situation from where I came, the situation is not like that I can go back. And I don't know... it's something like... it's a hold on my life, and I don't know what would happen after three years.

FELICITY OGILVIE: The Greens are vehemently opposed to the Temporary Protection Visas, and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will try to overturn the visas in the Senate this Monday afternoon by bringing on a disallowance motion for debate.

But she'll need the support of the Labor Party.

SARAH HANSON YOUNG: Look, this is a test for the Labor Party. They went to the election saying they did not support Temporary Protection Visas; back in 2008 they removed John Howard's Temporary Protection Visas. They did the right thing then. This is an opportunity to do the right thing again.

FELICITY OGILVIE: If Labor and the Greens do team up in the Senate to abolish the Government's Temporary Protection Visas, the Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison, says there are other forms available.

SCOTT MORRISON: There are other forms of temporary protection visa available, but my message to the Labor Party is if they want to completely ignore the last election, as they have on other issues like the carbon tax, and deny that the Coalition has steadfastly held to the position of temporary protection visas being a central plank of our border protection policy, and they want to team up with The Greens to deny that, well that's a matter for the Labor Party and they'll have to explain that.

FELICITY OGILVIE: It's still unclear how Labor will vote.

In a statement, the shadow minister for immigration Richard Marles says that Labor's stance on Temporary Protection Visas is long-standing and well known.

But he also says the legislation put forward by the Government is yet to be considered by the Caucus.